Operation Rainfall

I am more than a little surprised at Nintendo of America (NOA) stance of not bringing 3 original Wii games in the US. Xenoblade Chronicles, Pandora's Tower and The Last Story are the games in focus of an aggressive online petition where the fans (including me) have been raising our voices in an effort to make NOA bring these games in the US. Operation Rainfall got my attention a couple of days ago on Siliconera and was intrigued at the epic scale of this petition. Unlike a normal online petition the fans have taken steps of pestering NOA on their Facebook and Twitter pages and pre-ordering huge copies of Xenoblade Chronicles on Amazon (still named Monado: Beginning of the World on the site). This prompted a rapid response by Nintendo on Facebook promising the fans an update soon much to the delights of fans and instigators of Operation Rainfall. Now I don't live in the US myself, but I want these 3 games to come out in North America so that I too can have a chance to import these games.

Today NOA gave the update which wnet like this:

"Thank you for your enthusiasm. We promised an update, so here it is. We never say “never,” but we can confirm that there are no plans to bring these three games to the Americas at this time. Thanks so much for your passion, and for being such great fans!"

I am still perplexed at response. Sure this looks like a normal PR reply, but for us fans it feels like a blow to the gut. What is really bugging me is why is Nintendo being so stingy about Wii RPGs, considering that Nintendo's own DS has been a RPG haven, both niche and mainstream. Yet when the fans are clamoring for 3 of the finest games on the system (in Japan these games have been pretty big), they are showing the cold shoulder. The kicker is that at least one game can actually make it to the US. Xenoblade Chronicles has a solid September release date for EU territories i.e. the game script is already translated in the English and yet NOA is acting like it doesn't care about the hard core fans. It's beyond logic!

But rather being angry, I am still hopeful. While browsing GameFaqs I read a wonderful reaction by a user named ignasia7, whereby he said that getting a positive reply so early into the operation is asking for too much and that the fans need to step up efforts while being cordial as the fact remains that this operation has made NOA get up and take notice. After reading this I can't help be a little optimistic but still think that one last push may be required to make NOA yeild. And if they do yield then this act will be considered as rebuilding bridges for the hardcore audience who felt betrayed by the Wii casaul angle and while also helping Nintendo in the long run with the Wii U on the horizon.

Till then I can only hope that these games do end up getting an American release, while in the worst scenario I can always import the game from the UK!

My most anticipated RPGs of 2011: Day 9

Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten – PS3 – 6^th September (NA), Q3 2011 (EU):

Nippon Ichi was always a peculiar game company which has made a name for it self by developing and publishing quirky and niche game titles without ever having a break out hit, a game which would put the company on the gaming map. 2003 was year when the company truly announced that they had arrived when they released Disgaea: Hour of Darkness for the PS2, and the thing which stood out the most that the game was still was a niche game! Disgaea was a SRPG through and through with the grid based mechanics, literally more than a hundred levels to gain, micromanaging the party with unhealthy amount of customization options and hours and hours of game play, all set in a weird and totally off the wall setting of the Netherworld. The game was not moody or twisted but was riotously hilarious with superb zany characters from the main protagonist the egoistic Laharl, or his mischievously evil vassal Etna to the bumbling angel Flonne or the super hero with a massive, ironically, hero complex. Many of the cut-scenes were really funny with pop culture references, raunchy under tones and generally wackiness, all done with top notch voice acting. Disgaea: Hour of Darkness was, as aptly put in GameSpot’s editor Greg Kasavin words, ‘consider Disgaea one great big thank-you card’ as the game is bursting at its seams with SRPG goodness and the game ushered a deluge of SRPG games for the PS2 which bloated the system library of RPGs to dizzying quantity.

Henceforth Disgaea became the brand name which Nippon Ichi wanted. The inevitable sequel and the handheld iterations gave the brand good credentials and became the grind fest for that serious RPG nut! But with the HD generation in full bloom fans expected Nippon Ichi to atleast update the look of this now venerable series and this is where the company faltered as the PS3 entry of the series looked EXACTLY the same as its PS2 predecessors with the same flat 2D sprites and uninspiring drab background art . For me Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice was a huge let down as the game really looked bad so much so that I didn’t even bothered buying the game!! Even some of the review stated this fact, and although visuals don’t make a game awesome, as the classic Disgaea fare was present, but the look of the game just killed it for me. I guess Nippon Ichi took the disappointment of the fans to heart as when they announced Disgaea 4 for the PS3; they went about in providing what the fans wanted.

Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten is set to become the first game in the series with crisp HD visuals. The whimsical look of the series is still intact with but now every sprite, background and the visual novel sections boast clean and detailed graphics. This is the look which Disgaea 3 should have had but it’s heartening to see that Nippon Ichi does have the ability to create HD graphics and its apparent that this time around they not left any stone unturned in their pursuit of giving a HD Disgaea game.

The plot also has all the strapping for a laugh a minute roller coaster ride. Like previous Disgaea games, this game too takes place in the chaotic Netherworld and tells the travails of Valvatorez and his struggles to usurp the throne of Overlord with the help of his werewolf servant Fenrich and Fuka, girl with anger management issues and a wannabe Prinny (the exploding penguin mascots of the Disgaea world). You can just tell from the outset that the plot will be rife with comedy and over the top situations, exactly how we Disgaea fans like it!!

But that’s not all, the developers have added loads more to the game play fodder with more crazy skills to perform, the whole throwing mechanics and tower attack system has become really insane (and silly), a new Punishment system (take it how ever you please!!), new character classes, a monster union mechanic, a map creator, an online mode, loads of DLCs (whew) which will make more a deep yet out of this world experience for the PS3.

Sony machines have historically been RPG power houses, but the PS3 has been lacking in that department, but with system now finally firing in all cylinders, Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten is the perfect sort of RPG to woo back those who had become disenchanted with PS3’s lack of quality RPGs. And if NIS America (Nippon Ichi North American arm) takes full advantage of the space afforded by the blue ray format and ensure that the whole game is fully voiced, has dual audio options and gives a sparkling and comedic localization, it will only bode well for the game. So after a couple of tumultuous years for Nippon Ichi in the financial circle and still seeing the end of the tunnel, Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten will elevate the company back in to the lime light and bring its awesome series back in to form for the HD generation.

Finished Valkyria Chronicles 2....

I bought Valkyria Chronicles 2 a week after its release. Being a huge fan of the original, when the news that a new Valkyria Chronicles was coming I was ecstatic. Initially I was kinda bummed out the game would be coming on the PSP and not the PS3, but once good reviews started rolling in and when I watched the video review on GameTrailers all my anxiety vanished. And once I fired up the game and started playing, I instantly knew I was playing a pretty special game.

What impressed me the most throughout my playtime is how polished and deep the battle system had become from the original with its varied missions and the customization options. The core battle mechanics (called the BLITZ) are the same as before and so were the different classes, but this time around new classes have been added, and that turned the whole experience on it head. I now had control over elites and specialized units such as the Gunners, the Fencer unit or the support unit in the Anthem Corps. Every class can be outfitted with modern day weaponry according to their respective class so the shock trooper can equip machine guns, scouts can equip rifles and lancer can use rocket launchers. Due to the increase in classes the level of tactics change dynamically in every battle which paved a way for exciting scenarios and strategies. So maybe for the next Valkyria Chronicles for the PS3, the fleshed out system used in VC 2 can be adopted, which will definitely equate to some awesome game play.

On the presentation front, VC 2 gets the job done and in style. The graphics doesn’t strain the PSP hardware in any way, but the game still looks really solid. The character designs, animations, background art and the manga style cut-scenes shine quite nicely on the PSP screen and makes for some good eye candy. A handful of anime cut-scenes are also present and they are rendered quite well. All on all Valkyria Chronicles 2 makes a strong showing in the graphical department.

The game has a lot of voice acting as all the important cut-scenes are voiced, but the game is not fully voiced as many of the expositions are text based supported by voice clips; hearing Avan Hardins dumb laughs got really grating at times. But still the quality of the voice work is commendable and unlike normal JRPGs many of the voice actors have done a great job in sounding convincing and natural. Sure there are a few performances which were spotty but Avan Hardins (Jason Spisak) and Zeri (Crispin Freeman) were the real standouts.

Another strong aspect of the game are the characters. Don’t get me wrong as many of the characters are your run of the mill anime clichés, but there are more than a handful of well developed characters in the main characters roster as well as the supporting cast. Avan Hardins and Zeri were easily the best ones and here’s how: Avan Hardins quality as the leader of the pack and his undying determination against unnerving odds gave the character real depth. Although on first impression Avan’s character came off as callous, but as the game progressed I got swept up in his enthusiasm and the trust he had in his comrades. Zeri is the no nonsense and strong headed Darcsen (a minority and a discriminated race), but his struggle to bring good name to his reviled race was quite inspiring and I could not help but root on his character, coupled with a few awesome moments in the game made Zeri a very good main character. But on the other spectrum some of the main characters were not as impressive especially the character of Cosette Coalhearth, the demure damsel in distress archetype. Oh and talking about characters a welcome addition to VC 2 are the Classmate missions, small bite sized mission which help unlock new skills as well as conclude some personal bits for the characters, this made my get really close to many of the team members.

Anyways now to the some of the things I didn’t like in the game: First off was the story which was just decent and no where on the level or scale of the original. The saga of a rebellion after the Europan War had a lot of potential while the whole concept of genocide against the Darcens was also quite intriguing but in the end it kind off petered. Valkyria Chronicles had a great plot with some truly outstanding twists and turns and the non-preachy anti-war approach, the plot was tightly woven and had some amazing heart wrenching moments as well as the satisfying ending. In comparison VC 2 plot came off as pretty weak, although the story revolved around a rebellion and the ensuing civil war, it wasn’t as bold and hard hitting as the original. And while I didn’t mind the whole high school/military cadet college setting of the game, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something more edgy would had been much more appreciated.


In my opinion the biggest criticism I had with VC 2 was the plot narrative. In the original every battle, every skirmish, every cut-scene had some weight to it, where the epic scale of war was felt in every action I took. The narrative was told through a book show casing the struggles of Squad 7. In VC 2 the story is told via small snippets of random class banter along with story related segments which muddled the story telling process. Even in the mission structure I would have to play through 3-4 meaningless missions to get to the next story mission which just didn’t go down well with me. I mean I couldn’t feel connected to Class G’s aspirations and because of that I was more than a little annoyed at VC 2’s approach

Another aspect of VC 2 which I did not agree to was the change of the graphical style from the original. Valkyria Chronicles’s water colour like aesthetics were quite incredible and such visual splendour still has not been replicated. At first I would think that due to the hardware limitations such aesthetics would be nigh impossible for the sequel, but as Valkyria Chronicles 3 for the PSP shares the water colour look of the original, I cant help but be disappointed by the graphical style of VC 2. Although there is nothing wrong with the anime aesthetics of game, but if your compare it with original it just looks very jarring.

I could had played this game a lot longer as after the game ends, new missions open up to gain extra mileage, but I didn't even bother as once I finish the story mode of any game I lose incentive to keep on playing.


In conclusion despite a few misgivings I found Valkyria Chronicles 2 a really addictive game, and in that essence a quintessential game for the PSP. The deep battle mechanics, variety of mission structure, good graphics makes Valkyria Chronicles 2 is fine achievement for the PSP and fans of the series will really dig the game. My play time: 50 hours, 2 minutes and 26 secs. My rating: 8.8.

My most anticipated RPGs of 2011: Day 8

Solatorobo: The Red Hunter – DS – July 1^st (EU), August 2011 (NA):

In most things in life, time has the ability to change everything. This notion is also true for the video game industry. Staples which were considered as irreplaceable and being the norm of the industry have either been reworked or cast away out right. One of these norms were games which had anthropomorphic characters as their main leads which in itself gave birth to some of the most iconic characters in the industry. From the likes of Sonic and Crash to the modern day Banjo and Sly Cooper, these characters (or lovingly known as ‘furries’) were dime a dozen from the SNES days right down to the PS2 era, at times there seemed no stopping such characters from sprouting up in most games. That all changed when the current generation was ushered in late 2005, as the furries were put on hold and game developers started focusing there energies in created sophisticated, true to life graphics and believable worlds. Although I still have mixed feeling about this trend, but the fact remains that with the evolution of technology, such a change was all but inevitable. So where does that put the furries? Sure a few developers are still interested in creating games with furries, but not as many as before. So hence the game which is featured in this post comes as a pleasant surprise, and like cherry on top it’s a RPG. Match made in heaven if you ask me!

Solatarobo: The Red Hunter for the DS is the spiritual successor to an old PS1 cult hit, Tail Concerto. Both these games take place on spectacularly fantastical worlds which are inhabited by furry humanoid characters. One of the main features shared by both games is Mechs, elaborate robots used for travelling, warfare and every day use (something very similar in those anime with huge mechanical robots). Tail Concerto came out late 1999, developed by Cyber2Connect and published by Atlus, and while it did not win any awards, players were hooked on to the play mechanics and the quirky setting of the game world, and since then fans have to clamouring a sequel to the charming title. In early 2010 Namco Bandai announced Solatorbo for the Nintendo DS, and Cyber2Connect were behind the development, and that unlike the original this game would be an action RPG. Although it has taken the usually localizing shy Namco Bandai a while to announce an English version, the game is finally prepped for a summer release. For a small number of loyal fans this is great news, and for people like myself who didn’t play the original this will be a good way to check out why Tail Concerto gained a loyal following, although both games are very different in nature.

The game takes place on the floating islands of Shepherd Republic where the inhabitants are made up of dog and cat like creature. The story picks up when the protagonist, Red Savarin, a hunter by trader, is commissioned to retrieve an important document from some ruins. The plot is not the most original but it seems to get the work done, while the characters conform to the anime aesthetics. Personally I was intrigued the moment I watched the long trailer from last year’s Tokyo Game Show, as the game looked quite spiffy, with incredible 2D back ground art and solid 3D graphics (something which DS struggles with), while the game mechanics seemed interesting with the meshing of platforming, adventuring and RPG mechanics which come in the form of customizing the aforementioned mechs. The game visuals are a treat in my opinion, and will even call it the best looking DS game yet. The levels of detail in some of the backgrounds are astounding and I can’t wait to see more of this beautiful world. The cut-scenes look quite amazing as well presented like a graphic novel, and it all looks really polished.

The game not only looked amazing, but what really attracted me was the comeback of the furries and the crazy world which the game takes place in. As I mentioned a couple of paragraphs ago how the industry has moved away from this trend and are more interested in creating amazing graphics, so in that regard Solatorobo: The Red Hunter represents a return of innocence, and that is why this game became a part of this list. And with just 10 days to its release, the anticipation is growing steadily.

My most anticipated RPGs of 2011: Day 7

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 2: Innocent Sin - PSP - September 2011:

For a couple of years now there has been a perception in amongst the gaming fraternity that Japanese role-playing games (JRPGS) have become redundant and may very soon take the path of the adventure genre i.e disappear from the scene before a mini-revival takes place a decade later. Yes there maybe some truth behind it, where even the once invincible SquareEnix has faltered a little, but a matter of fact is that such a perception is far from the truth and there has been one company that has been hell-bent in proving this. Atlus is considered to be a messiah for JRPG fans as year after year their JRPG games make it to the top, literally culling the notion that the genre has become worthless. What separates Atlus from the other companies is how they still cling on the very Japanese mechanics of the genre yet making it slick and intriguing to make it a part of the current generation. What once was a niche company has now become one of the top players in the JRPG scene.

Shin Megami Tensei series has been Atlus's main franchise for more than 2 decades now. The series is well know for its references to the occult and cyber-punk as well as modern day settings, while it the series cuts no corners in sticking to turn based mechanics configured for any gaming generation. But for Atlus the spin-off of SMT series, the Persona series, has seen them become a house-hold name for JRPG fans around the world. Since Persona's inception in 1996 the series has gone from strength to strength and now a days every Persona release ends up creating a lot of hype. So what that has done is now Atlus is bringing out the older Persona games for the PS1 era and porting them over to the PSP with clean up graphics and a redone soundtrack. Last year the original game of the series was released, Persona, to mixed reviews, but that still didn't stop Atlus in announcing Persona 2 games as their next game in the porting scheme of things.

Persona 2 was a huge game. So huge that Atlus had to make two games out of it, the first game being Persona 2: Innocent Sin, while the other was named Persona 2: Eternal Punishment. Both games did not actually come out together, as Eternal Punishment was released a whole year later. The events and the characters maybe a little different in Eternal Punishment, but every thing was connected, which created an epic story line to follow. Back in the day the English localization of Innocent Sin was riddled with snags and hitches due to some sensitive matter present in the game (something to do with the appearance of Hitler), which saw that Innocent Sin never came out in English, rather Eternal Punishment was the only game which saw the light of day . This was indeed unfortunate as many thought that they were cheated by with just the concluding chapter to Persona 2.

But now after a whole decade, Atlus is doing it best to correct its mistake by announcing the PSP port of Persona 2: Innocent Sin for the English gamers. The PSP port came out a month ago in Japan, while the English version is a just a couple months away. This indeed is awesome news, as now I will have the chance to explore the haunting world of Persona 2 and check for my self what the whole fuss was all about. This game has got me all excited as it has been 3 years now since the last Persona game (not counting the Persona port), so right now any Persona game will do. Innocent Sin's setting is very unique where the game takes place 10 years ago in Japan in a fictional city of Sumaru City, where a cursed as gripped the city where rumours about a serial killing Joker are coming true with a spade of horrific murders.

The game is turn based, where the players have the ability to summon their inner personas to battle demons. An interesting twist to this formula is that the game encourages the players to make contracts with the demons through, oddly enough, dialogue. Say the right things at the right time and the demon will make a contract, (Alas wish life was that simple). Everything about Persona 2 is novel (at least for a 10 year JRPG) and has plenty of modern day references such as characters using mobile phones or the Internet. Even the main characters are very different from your run of the mill JRPG characters, who are made up of high school students, editors of a teen magazine or self proclaimed musicians. Yes the game is really old, with dated graphics even for the PSP, but its a Persona game, and you can bet your bottom dollar that the story and setting are a cut above the rest. The Persona series may not be a staple franchise in lieu with the Final Fantasy or the Dragon Quest series, but it still gives those series a run for their money.

So here's hoping the game is still relevant as it was 10 years ago, and fingers crossed that E3 has some sort of announcement of a new Persona game.